5.  Flats represented nearly 20% of the pre-war housing stock of Bosnia and Herzegovina[1] (around 250,000 housing units out of 1,315,000). By local standards, they were a particularly attractive type of home, equipped with modern conveniences and located in urban centres. Practically all flats were under the regime of “social ownership” – a concept which, while it does exist in other countries, was particularly highly developed in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (“the SFRY”). They were generally built by socially owned enterprises or other public bodies for allocation to their employees, who became “occupancy right holders”[2]. All citizens of the SFRY were required to pay a means-tested contribution to subsidise housing construction. However, the amount an individual had contributed was not amongst the legal criteria taken into account in the waiting lists for allocation of such flats.
6.  The rights of both the allocation right holders (public bodies which nominally controlled the flats) and the occupancy right holders were regulated by law (the Housing Act 1984, which is still in force in Bosnia and Herzegovina[3]). In accordance with this Act, an occupancy right, once allocated, entitled the occupancy right holder to permanent, lifelong use of the flat against the payment of a nominal fee. When occupancy right holders died, their rights transferred, as a matter of law, to their surviving spouses (indeed, spouses held occupancy rights in common) or registered members of their family households who were also using the flat (sections 19 and 21 of this Act). Furthermore, in the event of a divorce, the spouses were free to choose which one of them would continue to use the flat; in the absence of an agreement, either of them could apply to a court for a transfer of the occupancy right (section 20 of this Act). In practice, these provisions on transfer meant that occupancy rights originally allocated by public bodies to their employees could pass, as of right, to multiple generations for whom the initial employment-based link to the allocation right holder no longer existed. Occupancy rights could be cancelled only in court proceedings (section 50 of this Act) on limited grounds (sections 44, 47 and 49 of this Act), the most important of which was failure by occupancy right holders to physically use their flats for their own housing needs for a continuous period of at least six months without justified grounds. Although inspections were foreseen to ensure compliance with this requirement (section 42 of this Act), occupancy rights were rarely, if ever, cancelled on these grounds prior to the 1992-95 war. Moreover, on 24 December 1992 the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina annulled the inspection provisions[4].
7.  Following its declaration of independence on 6 March 1992, a brutal war started in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 15 May 1992 the United Nations Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, adopted its Resolution 757 urging that all units of the JNA, the armed forces of the SFRY, and all elements of the Croatian Army either be withdrawn from Bosnia and Herzegovina, or be subject to the authority of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or be disbanded and disarmed with their weapons placed under effective international monitoring. While the JNA formally withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina on 19 May 1992, the United Nations Secretary General (report of 3 December 1992, A/47/747, § 11) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (see its judgment in the Tadić case of 15 July 1999, § 151) later established that JNA members born in Bosnia and Herzegovina actually remained there with their equipment and joined the VRS forces[5] and only those born in Serbia and Montenegro left and joined the VJ forces[6]. As regards the participation by foreign armed forces in the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, see Đokić, cited above, §§ 16-17.
8.  The concept of “social ownership” was abandoned during the 1992-95 war[7]. Socially owned flats were thus effectively nationalised. As regards the administration of such flats during and after the war, see “Relevant domestic law and practice” below.
9.  The applicant was born in 1959. She lives in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
10.  In 1983 her husband, a JNA sergeant, was allocated a military flat in Sarajevo. As the JNA formally withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, he decided to continue his military career in Serbia. The applicant also moved to Serbia, where she was granted refugee status.
11.  The applicant’s husband’s military service was terminated in 1998.
12.  In 1998 the applicant made an application for the restitution of the flat in Sarajevo. Shortly thereafter, she filed a petition for divorce in Serbia and returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was granted a divorce on 2 March 2000.
13.  On 25 March 2000 her restitution claim was rejected pursuant to section 3a of the Restitution of Flats Act 1998 (“section 3a”; see paragraph 54 below). On 28 September 2000 the competent Cantonal Ministry upheld that decision.
14.  On 29 June 2001 the applicant lodged an application with the Human Rights Chamber, a domestic human-rights body set up by Annex 6 to the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (“the Dayton Peace Agreement”).
15.  On 27 June 2002 the Sarajevo Cantonal Court, on an application for judicial review, quashed the decisions of 25 March and 28 September 2000 and remitted the case for reconsideration.
16.  On 9 July 2002 the restitution commission set up by Annex 7 to the Dayton Peace Agreement (“the CRPC”), before which the applicant pursued parallel proceedings, held that the applicant’s husband was neither a refugee nor a displaced person and declined jurisdiction.
17.  On 22 November 2002 the competent housing authorities rejected again the applicant’s claim pursuant to section 3a. On 23 September 2003 the competent Cantonal Ministry upheld that decision.
18.  On 9 September 2004 the Human Rights Commission, the successor of the Human Rights Chamber, held that the applicant shared the fate of her former husband as to the restitution of their flat and found no breach of the Convention owing to her former husband’s service in the VJ forces.
19.  On 20 January 2006 the Sarajevo Cantonal Court, on an application for judicial review, quashed the administrative decisions of 22 November 2002 and 23 September 2003 and remitted the case for reconsideration.
20.  On 5 October 2006 the authorities rejected again the applicant’s claim pursuant to section 3a. On 8 December 2006 the competent Cantonal Ministry upheld that decision. The decision of 8 December 2006 was served on the applicant on 30 September 2007. The applicant did not appeal.
21.  On 17 November 2008 the Constitutional Court found a breach of Article 6 of the Convention in consideration of the length of the restitution proceedings and awarded the applicant 1,200 convertible marks (BAM)[8] for non-pecuniary damage. Regardless of the excessive length of the restitution proceedings, it held that the applicant should have nevertheless lodged an application for judicial review against the administrative decision of 8 December 2006 and rejected her substantive complaints on non-exhaustion grounds.
22.  The applicant was born in Serbia in 1934. He lives in Serbia.
23.  In 1978, as a JNA medical officer, he was allocated a military flat in Sarajevo. Whilst he was transferred to Belgrade in 1989, his wife stayed in that flat until 1994. His military service was terminated on 31 October 1992.
24.  On an unknown date, after having renounced his occupancy right on the flat in Sarajevo, the applicant was allocated a tenancy right of unlimited duration on a military flat in Serbia. In addition, he was provided a loan, co‑financed by the military authorities, for another flat in Serbia (see paragraph 59 below).
25.  In 1998 the applicant made an application for the restitution of the flat in Sarajevo.
26.  On 8 August 2000 his restitution claim was rejected pursuant to section 3a. On 12 March 2001 the competent Cantonal Ministry upheld that decision.
27.  On 15 August 2002 the Sarajevo Cantonal Court, on an application for judicial review, quashed the decisions of 8 August 2000 and 12 March 2001 and remitted the case for reconsideration.
28.  On 17 September 2002 the applicant lodged an application with the Human Rights Chamber.
29.  On 22 November 2002 the competent housing authorities rejected again the applicant’s restitution claim pursuant to section 3a. The decision was delivered on 30 December 2002. The applicant did not appeal.
30.  On 7 July 2004 the Human Rights Commission, the successor of the Human Rights Chamber, found that there was no breach of the Convention. That decision was delivered on 11 November 2004.
31.  The applicant was born in Croatia in 1944. He lives in Serbia.
32.  In 1983, as a JNA officer, he was allocated a military flat in Mostar. When the JNA formally withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, he decided to continue his military career in Serbia. His military service was terminated in 2000.
33.  In 1998 the applicant made an application for the restitution of the flat in Mostar. On 4 September 2001 his application was rejected pursuant to section 3a. The decision was upheld by the competent Cantonal Ministry, the Mostar Cantonal Court and the Supreme Court of the relevant Entity on 22 December 2003, 29 December 2004 and 11 October 2006 respectively.
34.  In 2003 the applicant lodged an application with the Human Rights Chamber. In 2006 the Human Rights Commission found a breach of Article 6 of the Convention in view of the length of the restitution proceedings and awarded the applicant BAM 1,000 for non-pecuniary damage. Given their excessive length, the Human Rights Commission held that the restitution proceedings did not constitute a remedy which would have to be used as a condition for the examination of the applicant’s substantive complaints. It then held, in line with its well-established jurisprudence, that the applicant’s occupancy right constituted “possessions” within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 and that his inability to repossess his flat amounted to an interference with the enjoyment of that rights. As regards the proportionality of the interference, the Commission held that the applicant’s service in the VJ forces had shown his disloyalty to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It concluded that the interference was therefore justified and found no breach of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1. Lastly, it considered that it was unnecessary to examine the discrimination and Article 8 complaints.
35.  The applicant was born in Serbia in 1952. He lives in Serbia.
36.  In 1988, as a JNA medical officer, he was allocated a military flat in Sarajevo. When the JNA formally withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina, he decided to pursue his military career in Serbia.
37.  After having renounced his occupancy right on the flat in Sarajevo, on 1 June 1999 the applicant was provided a mortgage loan, co-financed by the military authorities, for a flat in Serbia (see paragraph 59 below).
38.  In 1999 the applicant made an application for the restitution of the flat in Sarajevo. On 22 June 2004 his application was rejected pursuant to section 3a. That decision was upheld by the competent Cantonal Ministry, the Sarajevo Cantonal Court and the Supreme Court on 1 November 2004, 24 September 2007 and 15 January 2010 respectively.
39.  In the meantime, on 9 July 2002, the CRPC mentioned in paragraph 16 above, before which the applicant pursued parallel proceedings, held that he was neither a refugee nor a displaced person and declined jurisdiction.
40.  The applicant’s military service was terminated in 2003.
41.  The applicant was born in 1942. He lives in Serbia.
42.  In 1987, as a JNA officer, he was allocated a military flat in Mostar. Although the JNA formally withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina on 19 May 1992, he stayed in Mostar. On paper, however, he was a member of the newly-established VJ forces, the armed forces of the neighbouring Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, until 31 July 1992. On 3 August 1992 the HVO forces[9] arrested the applicant. He was detained at Dretelj internment camp until 18 August 1992 and then deported to the area controlled by the VRS forces. Shortly thereafter, the Red Cross Society of Montenegro transferred the applicant to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. On 26 August 1992 he was examined at Skopje Military Hospital. According to the medical report, the applicant was subjected to serious ill-treatment at Dretelj internment camp.
43.  In 1998 the applicant made an application for the restitution of the flat in Mostar. On 9 October 2002 his claim was rejected pursuant to section 3a. On 7 November the competent Cantonal Ministry upheld that decision. On 16 April 2003 the Mostar Cantonal Court, on an application for judicial review, quashed both decisions and remitted the case for reconsideration.
44.  On 11 February 2004 the housing authorities rejected again the applicant’s restitution claim under section 3a. On 5 July 2004 the competent Cantonal Ministry upheld that decision. On 2 December 2004 the Mostar Cantonal Court quashed both decisions and remitted the case to the housing authorities.
45.  On 16 April 2007 the housing authorities rejected for a third time the restitution claim pursuant to section 3a. That decision was upheld by the competent Cantonal Ministry and the Mostar Cantonal Court on 11 February and 2 December 2008 respectively.
46.  On 26 April 2007 the Serbian authorities terminated the proceedings for the allocation of a flat in Serbia because the applicant had not renounced his occupancy right on the flat in Mostar (see paragraph 59 below). On 6 October 2009 the applicant was placed in an old people’s home in Serbia, as he had no other place to live.
47.  The applicant was born in Montenegro in 1941 where he now lives.
48.  In 1981, as an economist employed at a military facility, he was allocated a military flat in Sarajevo. When the JNA formally withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina, he accepted a similar job at a military facility in Montenegro.
49.  In 1999 the applicant made an application for the restitution of the flat in Sarajevo. On 17 March 2003 his restitution claim was accepted. On 27 November 2003 the competent Cantonal Ministry quashed that decision and rejected the restitution claim pursuant to section 3a.
50.  Meanwhile, on 24 April 2003, the CRPC mentioned in paragraph 16 above, before which the applicant pursued parallel proceedings, held that he was neither a refugee nor a displaced person and declined jurisdiction.
51.  In November 2005 he retired. After having renounced his occupancy right on the flat in Sarajevo, he was allocated a tenancy right of unlimited duration on a military flat in Montenegro in December 2005 (see paragraph 59 below).
52.  On 6 February 2006 the Sarajevo Cantonal Court, on an application for judicial review, quashed the decision of 27 November 2003 and remitted the case to the Cantonal Ministry. On 29 March 2006 the Cantonal Ministry quashed the decision of 17 March 2003 and remitted the case to the housing authorities. On 10 April 2007 the housing authorities rejected the restitution claim under section 3a. The Cantonal Ministry and the Sarajevo Cantonal Court upheld that decision on 5 June 2007 and 24 June 2008 respectively. The last decision was delivered on 10 December 2008.